Cilisos on "here’s how much school teachers actually earn in Malaysia":

Rosie, 46, a secondary school teacher in rural Kedah -> RM5,000 with allowances reaching up to RM1,400, including housing allowance, elaun kerajaan and other things.

Laila, 27, a private school teacher in the central region -> basic of RM1,800 monthly with RM300 allowance

Akmal, 27, a primary school teacher in rural Sabah -> RM2,200 monthly with special allowance for staying in isolation

Asma, 33, a special needs teacher in Kedah -> upwards of RM3,000 monthly

Kannan, age not revealed, a teacher at a Tamil government school in Kelantan -> RM4,500 monthly

Ching Yee, 33, a teacher at a Chinese government school in KL -> RM4,500 monthly

There are also yearly increments that government teachers enjoy. Kannan told us that last year, teachers got a double increment, and each year teachers enjoy a pay raise of not less than RM200.

Kannan had been teaching for six years, Rosie for seven and Ching Yee for ten, so their salaries are somewhat understandable. However, things aren’t as peachy for private school teachers like Laila who has been a teacher for 3 years.

But they don’t get paid for overtiming

However different their pay schemes are, all 6 teachers have something in common: none of them receive any overtime, even if they work more. Remember when you go to school and SPM or PMR is around the corner and teachers will sometimes hold extra classes after school hours? Yeah, that’s free. Teachers who hang around for club activities and uniformed bodies march practices? That’s free as well.

To those who want to be a teacher in Malaysia, these figures are useful insight into the current pay of teachers in various parts of Malaysia. If you do the maths, you will quickly realize many teachers who teach private tuition classes (regardless of home tuition or at tuition centers) after schools are actually making a lot more compared to their main job salary.